> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://labnotes.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Weekend Reading — Never Again Is Now - URL: https://labnotes.org/weekend-reading-never-again-is-now/ - Published: 2024-01-27T17:41:08.000Z - Updated: 2024-01-31T16:16:33.000Z - Description: This week we remember how to write quality software, add true vintage look to our modern web app, play PowerPoint Karaoke, design digital instruments for our car, hire Boss as a Service, correct and avoid AI mistakes, watch Snoopy sleep, and cary a kitten everywhere we go. - Author: Assaf Arkin **[So that's where they come from](https://imgur.com/gallery/EmCSAkQ?utm%5Fsource=labnotes.org)** --- ## Tech Stuff **[draconigen](https://packmates.org/users/draconigen/statuses/111805683031473439?ref=labnotes.org)** “Totally didn't do this while slacking off another project.” ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-159.png) **[Shipping Blended Diffs](https://markdotto.com/2024/01/17/blended-diffs/?ref=labnotes.org)** This blog post is full of beautiful and useful design. ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-144.png) **[Naymee](https://naymee.com/?ref=labnotes.org)** A social network for people that love domains. The idea is interesting … I don’t actually have an account, just love the concept. ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-153.png) **[You are never taught how to build quality software](https://www.florianbellmann.com/blog/never-taught-qa?ref=labnotes.org)** > The thing is, if you study computer science you don't learn how to ensure quality standards in software **[Prisma Editor](https://prisma-editor.vercel.app/?ref=labnotes.org)** It’s basically a UI design tool for your Prisma schemas. ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-143.png) **[Wooden Toggles](https://codepen.io/nicolasjesenberger/details/mdomqGR?ref=labnotes.org)** Add a true vintage look to your modern web app. ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-150.png) **[Freelancing, 1991](https://www.presentandcorrect.com/blogs/blog/freelancing-1991?ref=labnotes.org)** > 'When you decide on freelancing from home, plan the position and layout of the studio very carefully. Remember that clients will be visiting, so try to separate it as much as possible from the rest of the house' Scanned from 'Practical graphic design techniques‘ ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-152.png) **[gibbok/typescript-book](https://github.com/gibbok/typescript-book?ref=labnotes.org)** The Concise TypeScript Book: A Concise Guide to Effective Development in TypeScript **[PowerPoint Karaoke](https://amanvir.com/powerpoint-karaoke?ref=labnotes.org)** A game where you give a presentation based on the slides with zero preparation. Can you make it? ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-142.png) --- ## Eye for Design **[The Problem With Digital Instrument Clusters and How to Design a Better One](https://www.theturnsignalblog.com/blog/designing-better-digital-instrument-clusters/?ref=labnotes.org)** Interesting 🤔 > Digital instrument clusters today are overly complex because of a lack of physical constraints. However, this lack of constraints is also a great advantage. It opens the doors to display dynamic, and more complex information depending on context. It's not the fact that instrument clusters are digital that is the problem, but the design. ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-146.png) **[Backlog size is inversely proportional to how often you talk to customers](https://bitbytebit.substack.com/p/the-size-of-your-backlog-is-inversely)** Lessons learned from a year of startup life: > Planning time is best used focusing on how to build the feature, not what to build. The what should come directly from the customer, with the software development process needing a direct physical line to customer - no proxies. **[Lucas Pope](https://mastodon.social/users/dukope/statuses/111690252983567798?ref=labnotes.org)** “Whoever designed the Mac pointer hit a home run 40 years ago and it hasn't touched ground yet” ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-162.png) **[Information Is Beautiful](https://vis.social/users/infobeautiful/statuses/111823405626181243?ref=labnotes.org)** “Love this toothpaste label - let's roll it out across all products” — please and thank you! ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-138.png) --- ## Peoples **[Boss as a Service](https://bossasaservice.com/?ref=labnotes.org)** When you need a boss to help boost your productivity — because some people need a watchful eye accountability partner — but really you’re working for yourself. "If you default, we will follow up with you, and not stop bugging you till it's resolved.” ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-155.png) **[Forfeit: Habit Contracts](https://www.forfeit.app/?ref=labnotes.org)** Another form of accountability partnership: “Send evidence of you completing your task before the deadline, or we take your money. It's essentially unlimited willpower.” ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-156.png) --- ## Machine Intelligence **[AI Companies Desperately Hiring Authors and Poets to Fix Their Crappy Writing](https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-companies-hiring-authors-poets-fix-writing?utm%5Fsource=labnotes.org)** > To remedy the situation, some of Silicon Valley's biggest AI companies are now resorting to hiring poets and writers with humanity degrees, [Rest of World reports](https://restofworld.org/2023/ai-developers-fiction-poetry-scale-ai-appen/?ref=labnotes.org), which is an ironic twist, considering publishers have been [laying off](https://futurism.com/insider-layoffs-ai?ref=labnotes.org) [writers and editors](https://futurism.com/the-byte/sports-illustrated-lays-off-journalists-ai-content?ref=labnotes.org) while making big investments in generative AI. **[Humans Still Cheaper Than AI in Vast Majority of Jobs, MIT Finds](https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/01/22/1849250/humans-still-cheaper-than-ai-in-vast-majority-of-jobs-mit-finds?ref=labnotes.org)** Related: > AI can't replace the majority of jobs right now in cost-effective ways, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found in a study that sought to address fears about AI replacing humans in a swath of industries. From a report: In one of the first in-depth probes of the viability of AI displacing lab… **[Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine Market Share Barely Budged After Adding ChatGPT](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-18/microsoft-s-bing-market-share-barely-budged-after-adding-chatgpt?ref=labnotes.org)** My favorite part of 2023 was when people loudly predicted that Microsoft — having integrated ChatGPT into Bing — would win over Google. It didn’t happen. **[lenazun](https://mastodon.social/users/lzg/statuses/111785924379710288?ref=labnotes.org)** > there’s a laaaaaaarge middle ground between “LLMs are a worthless scam” and “the emergence of a god-like machine consciousness is upon us” and i wish more of us were excited about that middle idk **[AI Art is The New Stock Image](https://ia.net/topics/ai-art-is-the-new-stock-image?ref=labnotes.org)** Critique of the pure AI image: > AI or not, images should be given the same attention as text. Choose each visual carefully and place it in the right context. Don’t let AI do your job, use it as a tool. Ask yourself what your image means and how it adds to your message. ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-163.png) --- ## Insecurity **[The NSA's Furby Docs Just Dropped](https://www.404media.co/email/9d09481b-e642-4496-b1fa-3a35d86f11cb/?ref=labnotes.org)** In 1998 the NSA banned the Furby toy from its offices due to the toy’s ability to “learn” using an “artificial intelligent chip onboard” 🤯 > Apparently, these stuffed critters learn from nearby speech patterns. It would seem to me that this might be a security issue in that they can pick up any spoken language and repeat it. I believe these things are called ‘Fropie’s’ … That would definitely be a security concern. ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-157.png) --- ## Everything Else **[Awww Snoopy is Sleepy](https://imgur.com/gallery/Ng9J9yx?utm%5Fsource=labnotes.org)**… ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-168.png) **[Joan Westenberg](https://mastodon.social/users/Daojoan/statuses/111820635413658290?ref=labnotes.org)** > 'Ask not what your country can do for you,' because chances are, there's probably a form for that, and it's not covered by your plan **[Even Rats Are Taking Selfies Now (and Enjoying It)](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/23/science/photography-rats-selfies.html?ref=labnotes.org)** A photographer trained two rats to take photographs of themselves. They didn’t want to stop. ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-136.png) **[rat-themed sensation](https://posts.rat.pictures/users/hannah/statuses/111808086160815790?ref=labnotes.org)** > Over 80% of icloud storage is used on 12 megapixel photos of stuff in the grocery store followed by a text that says “is this the right one” **[Ergative Absolutive](https://wandering.shop/users/ergative/statuses/111821597695767380?ref=labnotes.org)** > Hey, friends, a quick reminder that although Make America Kittens Again (MAKA) has been blocked from Chrome, [it still works on Firefox](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/make-firefox-kittens-again/?ref=labnotes.org). > > (MAKA is a browser extension that replaces all images whose metadata includes the word 'Trump' with a creative-commons picture of a kitten. Here's what it did to the front page of today's NYTimes for me.) ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-132.png) **[Bethany Black](https://mastodon.social/users/BethanyBlack/statuses/111827656807724996?ref=labnotes.org)** “Hard to believe Norman Rockwell predicted the internet” ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-133.png) **[Data shows that there is a large growing gap in most countries between male and female voters when it comes to political views](https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialDemocracy/comments/1aboo2i/data%5Fshows%5Fthat%5Fthere%5Fis%5Fa%5Flarge%5Fgrowing%5Fgap%5Fin/?ref=labnotes.org)** This is just … wow 😔 ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-134.png) **[NearbyWiki: Wikipedia places nearby](https://en.nearbywiki.org/map/?ref=labnotes.org)** Point yourself on the map and find all the Wikipedia entries for locations nearbynation. ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-165.png) **[Uncle Duke](https://universeodon.com/users/UncleDuke1969/statuses/111812883185913502?ref=labnotes.org)** > wife: what did i ask you to do? > me: buy the name-brand repellent > wife: and what did you do? > me: i bought the cheap stuff > wife: you bought the cheap stuff > me: it was half the- > wife: and what do we have now? > me: *sigh* we have elephants > wife: we have elephants ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-151.png) **[Germany’s surging far right provokes a reckoning](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/23/germany-far-right-alternative-for-germany-afd-reckoning-protest-future/?utm%5Fsource=labnotes.org)** Yes! > Rallies that saw **millions** across Germany protesting the country’s far-right and surging Alternative for Germany party made clear what many Germans believe is at stake. ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-171.png) **[catasters](https://catasters.tumblr.com/post/58940946217/lets-go-to-scotland?utm%5Fsource=labnotes.org)** “Let’s go to Scotland!” ![](https://labnotes.org/content/images/2024/01/image-167.png) When you get a moment, **[check out my niece's commune](https://www.instagram.com/p/C2ppMF0IYD3/?ref=labnotes.org)**